Reform UK leader says £72 million donations comply with current law amid pending cap on overseas contributions

Reform UK announced over the weekend that it had received two donations of £36 million each from businessmen Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, both of whom have recently lived abroad. Party leader Nigel Farage told the BBC the gifts are "100% compliant with the law today" and declined to comment on the donors' residency status.

The donations, described as the largest in British political history, are being scrutinised as the House of Lords debates the Representation of the People Bill, which would cap contributions from British citizens living overseas at £100,000 and require a one-year waiting period for returnees before they could give more than that amount. The bill also sets a registration deadline of 25 March 2026 for donors to avoid the cap.

Education Minister Georgia Gould said the government is concerned about large sums of money influencing politics, especially from abroad, and noted that the new provisions were added after a report on foreign interference. Former senior civil servant Sir Philip Rycroft, who authored the report, said he sees no reason for "mega sums of money" entering British politics and warned that retroactive bans could be controversial.

Farage argued that the funds would allow Reform UK to "catch up with the other big parties" and professionalise its operations. He suggested that limiting donations would push parties to rely on taxpayer funding, which he claimed would be unpopular with the public. Trade union leader Paul Nowak countered that the situation differs from modest contributions by union members, and Farage linked donor support for other parties to expectations of honours.

When asked whether the donors would influence Reform's policy on cryptocurrency, Farage said he had shown them the party's paper on the topic and they agreed it "made sense".